Saturday, December 21, 2013

Pet Dogs May Reduce Asthma and Allergies

My opinion: So now we have yet another reason to love pets! As the article mentions, the evidence is pretty clear that dogs can help prevent asthma and some allergies. However, there are still some points missing. The effect that the researchers observed in mice may not be the same as in humans. Also, we don't know if this effect works for adults, and if it does, to what extent? Finally, does the same thing occur with cats? After all, not all people looking for this benefit would want dogs. Ultimately, I'm thinking that dog exposure helps build immunity, but it would be nice to know if this also happens in other situations. Feel free to write any comments.

Dogs in the house protect against asthma, infection

Saturday 21 December 2013 - 12am PST

There have been several studies suggesting that when exposed to a
dog regularly in early infancy, children's risk for developing
allergies and asthma decreases. And now, researchers point to changes in
gut microbes as the mechanism behind this safeguard.
The researchers, from the University of California-San Francisco (UCSF)
and the University of Michigan, published the results of their mouse
study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
They explain that when mice were exposed to dust from houses in which
dogs lived, the community of microbes in their gut - known as the
gastrointestinal microbiome - was "reshaped."
This also resulted in decreased reactivity by the immune system to common allergens, they say.
In the study, the investigators introduced cockroach or protein
allergens to the mice and found that inflammatory responses in the lungs
- which are associated with asthma - were significantly reduced in mice
that had been exposed to dust associated with dogs, compared with those
who were exposed to dust from dogless homes.